Help!! Need Good Headphone for PC GAming

[cadobhuk]

Quote:

Originally posted by ph0rk As for 4 or 5.1 surround (you really have no need for a center channel for a pc, the speakers are so close together it is a waste), i really like the klipsch promedia stuff, they aren't cheap but the sound is very decent, a whole level above the creative/cambridge fps1000/2000. .

I own Cambtidge Megaworks 550 and they sound about as good as Klipsch Promedia 5.1(better sattelites but sub does not go quite as deep - only till about 40 Hz) -and they cost me around $250..510D some people like even more..they sound VERY good for the money and are suiteable even for music ,more than enouth for games..5.1 pared with any EAX game = incredible effect of presence.. headphones with those poor two channels - only if u dont want to disturb the neightbors

 

[iluvvgwar]

hmmm. personally, i think etymotics are great for gaming. sound isolation, and their ability to bring out every detail is very helpful for fps multiplayer games. other phones may sound better for games, but etys definitly make me play better.

 

[psyco1]

Quote:

Originally posted by cscott23 I've had luck w/ HD590s, V6s, and ATH-A900s.

Yup, the 590 works well for an open and the A900 is great for closed on the comp.

 

[Nefarion]

hd-580's .. Smooths out the harshness assosiated with a lot of games. I use these for gaming, luv em.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

Originally posted by MD1032 *completely* *bogus*

Try it. Your statement only proves you have not experienced it. This forum should be sharing about what we experience and like about headphones, and in this thread the topic is gaming with headphones.

If you have a completely opposite experience than mine, then share it! Don't just post "completely bogus" and end it with that. Your statements either implies that im a liar or completely stupid and I take offense with that!!

Quote:

There is a reason why Computer speakers are built for gaming, and positioning is it, not sound quality. The fact that headphone transducers lie about a half an inch from your head just makes your statement even more laughable.

If you wanna be technical here it is:

On the face of it, this seems silly; obviously, speakers behind you should be the best at making you think there's a noise behind you, because, you know, it is there.
But you only have two ears, on the sides of your head; you don't have any extra fore-and-aft sensors. Your ears figure out where a sound source is by using the oddities of the reflections and occlusions from the pinnae, and positional audio systems use Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) to fake the effects that the pinnae have on sounds from different places, so that a transucer firing straight into the ear from the side can make itself sound as if it's somewhere else.

Stereo surround speakers can do the same job with less processing, but they
won't necessarily, and they're also likely to have pretty lousy drivers in
them (if they're the usual kind of PC satellite speakers). All speaker
systems also have channel separation problems; extra processing has to be
done to minimise the amount of left-ear signal the right ear hears, and
vice versa.

Headphones have very little crosstalk between channels; it's much easier for the HRTF-twiddled audio to be delivered to the ear it's meant to go to, and not to the other ear.

If you wanna laugh then go ahead, but please try it before you react to what someone else says here. I've said it before and I'll say it again, headphones are way better than speakers when it comes to 3d positional sounds in FPS games. Ask other gamers here who have tried both and they'll tell you the same thing.

 

[Mindless]

I'd recommend HD570's or HD590's for gaming. They give u good precition in the sound wich can be useful in Counter Strike or similar games.

 

[cadobhuk]

We only got two ears but somehow they are always able to know where the sound is coming from - rigth,left,front,back,above and under.With the headphones you can never be sure if the sound source is in front of you or behind you.I dont know what special effects can make them do it,but I never expirienced anything like that.All I know about is adding some ambient noise to create a 3D-space illusion.
Quote:

Ask other gamers here who have tried both and they'll tell you the same thing.

I am the hell of a gamer,I have tryed both and headphones dont even compare.In delta force:black hawk down you can hear the bullets whizzing by,explosions behind you..when the sniper starts to shoot me and I dont know where he is,I just strafe and jump and listen to where the shots are fired from..when I play it late in the night and have headphones on,I just run away or get killed

 

[ph0rk]

actually, if you set your computer to use headphones (and the game uses directsound properly) then the audio will be processes so that sounds are clearer when directly in front of you, and you can easily tell. YMMV

If you are looking for strictly gaming headphones, I'd warn away from bright ones, for some reason game audio designers feel they have to fill their games with ear-thumping treble.

 

[tortie]

Quote:

Originally posted by cadobhuk We only got two ears but somehow they are always able to know where the sound is coming from -

Exactly my point.

Quote:

I am the hell of a gamer,I have tryed both and headphones dont even compare.In delta force:black hawk down you can hear the bullets whizzing by,explosions behind you..when the sniper starts to shoot me and I dont know where he is,I just strafe and jump and listen to where the shots are fired from..when I play it late in the night and have headphones on,I just run away or get killed

Quote:

actually, if you set your computer to use headphones (and the game uses directsound properly) then the audio will be processes so that sounds are clearer when directly in front of you, and you can easily tell. YMMV

I'll second that. When you switch from speakers to headphones, do you also assign your soundcard speaker settings to headphones? I had the same problem with my games before I noticed that the speaker setup of my comp was for 4 speakers not headphones, but after I changed the speaker settings to headphones ,the experience was great.

I also play blackhawk down and their sound positioning is ok but not that great. Have you tried Vietcong? I think the sound experience you'll get from it will make you a believer

 

[Calanctus]

For gaming the Beyerdynamic DT770s are good. Great bass!

If you set your soundcard to 'headphone' (assuming you have a decent soundcard to begin with), then headphones do a great job on positioning in FPS.

 

[NetRunner]

For many years I haven't even had any speakers on my computer, and have just used DT531 and have been very happy.. And I play a lot of FPS. I get plenty of 3D information through the headphones. Though, I guess the audio card used has to be made at least partially with gaming in mind to get that positioning working. (But the situation today ought to be better than few years back.. Still IMHO, without any testing, M-Audio doesn't appear to be a gaming card.. Install two cards? =) )
*Too bad Aureal disappeared.*

It is also a lot easier when you don't have to position four speakers around you and the computer.. But this is just my opinion and I can see how some like speakers better. *Also if I ever get Xbox then I'll deffinitely use 5.1 sound (if it isn't night), but those speakers are not of the computer-small-box-variety..*

 

[ph0rk]

unfortunately, the xbox uses some lame eax derivative for its 5.1 positionals, the soundtrack and cutscenes will be spiffy, but most games end up sounding like their pc-counterparts, at least for positional audio.


headphones suck for 2-4 player games, though

 

[NetRunner]

Oh well.. Maybe they get better. Too bad the competition (in that area) left when Aureal went under. I haven't seen much talk about that (3D accuracy), so maybe it's just considered as good as it gets. *After all to get better HRTF functions you might have to measure individual ears? =)*

 

[Unclewai]

cadobhuk, something must be wrong with your setup. I could pinpoint anyone with my headphones in my hardcore CS days.
In Aztec, I could crouch behind a crate as T and hear when the CTs are rushing from water up the stairs. I was tired with all the wallhack accusations and quitted CS.
Audigy 2 is hands down the best card for accuracy and hear enemy far away.
To rate the headphones I've tried for gaming.
SR225 < KSC-35 < Elite-840 < w1000 < dt880 <DT770

Yes DT770 is the best gaming phones.
Grado's small soundstage is really hard to locate enemies.

 

[cadobhuk]

There's nothing wrong with my setup im just stating that 5.1 speaker system produces better 3 dimensional sound then 2 channel headphones/speakers.I didnt say that headphones are not suitable at all,usually two channels is enough to locate the enemies combined with your logic/map knowledge.But come on,dont tell me that stereo headphones can match surround sound speakers..even the special surround sound headphones with 6 separate drivers (dont remember the model) dont deliver the same 3D sound,only an approach to it.